A young, tanned, thin, man with wild brown hair, donning gray shorts and a red over-shirt, flopped down onto the futon of a brothel in Hiroshima. A beautiful young woman with long, waist-length, shiny, thick brown hair lay in his arms. Her pale cheeks took on a light flush as she leaned up to kiss him, her arms twisting around his neck. Both of their breathing matched a hunger-filled, unsteady tempo. Neither cared a difference about the time of day or where they were, or the type of person each other was. As far as they were concerned, he was a "paying" customer, and her a service. Just as their lips met, the door to the private room that they happened to be staying in flung open, with a loud crash. The young man sat up, sweat matting his hair to his forehead,

"The hell?" He swore violently, standing up to grab his sword. The silhouette in the doorway stepped forward, a young, flat-chested, brunette girl, fully clothed in a pink kimono. She put a geta sandaled foot ahead of the other and stepped into the sunlight,

"MUGEN! WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING? IT FIGURES THAT I'D FIND YOU IN A PLACE LIKE THIS!" She said angrily, her eyebrow twitching. Mugen looked taken aback, and then a rather agitated look crossed his face,

"DAMN IT FUU! WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU BARGE IN ON SOMEONE IN A PLACE LIKE THIS, HUH? HOW THE HELL DID YOU KNOW WHERE I WAS?" He demanded, gripping his sword out of frustration, so hard that his knuckles turned white. Fuu, turned away from him,

"Mugen….all you have to do is add cheap Sake and cheap whores to the mix, and anyone will know where to find you…" She said with a roll of her eyes. The young woman who had been in the room with him before, pulled her clothes back on, and moved towards the door. Mugen shook his head,

"No baby, don't go….please….we ain't finished yet!" He said, watching her leave. She merely looked over her shoulder and offered him a tempted smile, before sighing and leaving the room totally. Mugen gritted his teeth,

"This damn well better be good, Fuu. I helped you find your damn Samurai…so why don't you leave me the hell alone, and go find some fun…" He snarled. Fuu shrugged and pranced over to the futon that Mugen and the young whore had just been occupying. She put her hands behind her head, relaxing in the futon. Mugen walked over,

"Well?" He asked, his voice holding little more than contempt for Fuu at the moment. Fuu looked up at him,

"I need your help again…I need you to accompany me on a journey…will you do that for me Mugen? It's important…" She said. Mugen raised an eyebrow,

"Is that all you hunted me down for you little bitch? 2 years ago you con me into helping you find your smelly samurai father guy, and now you show up here wanting me to go with you again? The hell with you, go find Jin…" He said, reaching for his sword. Fuu grabbed his wrist suddenly,

"I can't go and look for Jin….that's why I need your help…" She said softly. Mugen wrenched his hand away,

"Why the hell not…the man can wield a sword, can't he?" He asked. Fuu nodded, but then sat up and hugged her knees to her chest,

"Someone beat you to it, Mugen…" She said softly. Mugen turned around,

"What the hell are you talking about now?" He asked. Fuu turned away for a moment, sucking in a breath, as though she had devastating news,

"Someone beat you to killing Jin…" She murmured. Mugen raised his left eyebrow,

"Eh? Yeah right…no one could beat that bastard…I don't believe a word of what your saying…" He said, turning away as if to prove his indifference. Fuu grumbled and slid off of the futon, thrusting a piece of parchment into his hands,

"Read this." She commanded. Mugen was more than happy to. After all, it had only been recently he had learned how to read, and now, reading anything filled him with joy. In fact, he hungered daily to have an excuse to read anything he came across. He sat down on the futon, clearing his throat, and reading aloud,

"It is my great pleasure to announce the defeat of the current Sensei of the Mariya Enshirou Memorial Martial Arts School in Nagasaki, Japan. The master, Jin, aged 22, was slain, and the dojo has been burned to the ground. All who once knew Jin, come quickly to mourn over his ashy remains, for soon they will be swept away as I build my new, and better dojo. Signed, Anonymous…" He looked up,

"Yeah right…you expect me to believe this bullshit? Where the hell did you get this anyhow?" He asked. Fuu crossed her arms over her chest,

"It was nailed on the doors of the Edo Castle. I was there, looking for that woman who Jin helped escape from the brothel. I wanted to know if she knew of his whereabouts….I didn't even have a chance to find her…" She said with a sigh. Mugen shrugged,

"So he's dead…we all gotta go sometime…" He said. Fuu looked up at him,

"Mugen, you jerk! I can't believe how insensitive you are!" She snarled, and ripped the bulletin back from him. She wiped angry tears from her eyes, and stormed from the room, her feet causing dull thunks to ring on the wooden boards of the brothel. The woman who Mugen had been with previously, heard the commotion and poked her head back into the door,

"Do you still require my services, sir?" She asked. Mugen grinned and nodded, waving her foreward with his hand,

"You bet your pretty little ass I do. C'mere." He said, and she slid the door of the room shut, moving back into her place in Mugen's arms.